CORVALLIS -- Kyle Peko won't play in Oregon State's season opener Saturday against Portland State while the Beavers continue waiting on his academic paperwork, a team spokesman has told The Oregonian.

Peko, who has been practicing with OSU since meeting an NCAA bylaw for temporary eligibility two weeks ago, would have rotated at defensive tackle if cleared.

The junior college transfer can practice with the Beavers for 30 more days without gaining full eligibility. If OSU hasn't received the proper paperwork by the end of September, though, he will have to stop working out with the team. It is the latest chapter of an eligibility saga that has lasted more than a year.

Peko had planned to join the Beavers last fall camp before the NCAA deemed him academically ineligible. He met with OSU's compliance office and laid out a plan to qualify by the start of 2014 spring practice.

A day before Peko arrived in Oregon in late March, however, he learned that the NCAA wasn't expected to clear an English class OSU had asked him to take. Peko spent the spring living in an off-campus apartment, taking the correct English class and weight training with the Beavers five times a week.

Peko told The Oregonian that he passed the English course, but learned earlier this month that he needed more credits to become eligible. So he enrolled in yoga and bowling classes.

Peko, a three-star prospect out of Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif., remained loyal to the Beavers when high-profile programs like Texas A&M and Wisconsin recruited him while he missed the 2013 season.

Since becoming a full practice participant, Peko has rotated with Siale Hautau, Bud Delva and Miami transfer Jalen Grimble at both tackles. Defensive line coach Joe Seumalo has been impressed with Peko, saying recently that the 6-foot-2, 315-pound lineman's speed and agility look "like what they should look like."